It only takes a month

On New Year's Day, doubt had me in its grips.  I hadn't had a quality stretch of training since Pikes - a fairly long time to go without focus or goals.  I only ran 55 times in 112 days - that's 67 days off, vs. 30 or so in the previous 8 months.  I weighed in at a surprising 148 lbs - I was 140 in August.  Most telling, however, was how lethargic I felt when I actually DID get out the door.

These beast feeds upon itself.

I've been around the block enough to trust that a couple back-to-back quality weeks would silence the beast, and I would be back in control of my training.  Maybe a month or two behind my training from one year ago, but back in control nonetheless.

Thirty-one days later and I'm in a whole different place.  I considered January 2011 to be a pretty solid month, as I had a decent base of work under me going into 2011.  When I stacked it up against this year's first month, though, I liked what I saw.

• 235 miles / 29k of climbing in January 2012
• 222 miles / 15k of climbing in January 2011

• 27 days running in 2012
• 27 days running in 2011

• 13 days crossfit/cross-training in 2012
• 0 days in 2011

Furthermore, I'm shocked to find that some of my early-season tempo efforts have been faster at the same PE.  Today's 5 x 1000 (2 minutes active recovery) around Stratton Rez were done comfortably in 5:58 pace.  I did this same exact workout (give or take some reps) many times last spring, and usually found 6:10 to be about the right pace for an LT effort.  On the few tempo efforts I've put forth, I found a similar pattern - I'm comfortably about 10-15 seconds/mile faster.

Go figure.  I'm still a few lbs over fighting weight, especially for 100-milers.  Maybe 2011's miles are beginning to pay off.